USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Shelburne > History and tradition of Shelburne, Massachusetts > Part 32
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The wide front door opens into a small hall not so cramped as the early-built entry. The winding stairway, too, is more convenient in not being quite so steep and its steps are wider. Franklin fireplaces in the two front rooms are still a part of the old Bard- well home.
Ormand Bardwell was the last male Bardwell to live on the place where Ebenezer, Zenas, Ebenezer, and Daniel R. had lived in succession. For a brief time his widow and daughter, Lizzie Mabel (called Bee), sixth generation, remained on the farm before selling to Edwin Dyer who, in a few years, sold to a Baxter family.
DANIEL P. BARDWELL HOUSE on Green Valley Farm - Beautifully situated in the Deerfield River Valley, with an easy southern slope which in winter is favored with the sun's rays and protected from the cold north winds, a large house has for five generations of Bardwells - Gideon, Joel, Orsamus, Daniel Packer, and the present owners, Elsie and Leila - cherished the atmosphere of a home. It is the only house in rural Shelburne where five generations of the same family name have lived, except the old Elisha Barnard house on "Pattern Hill."
Gideon Bardwell, Jr., came from Montague in 1777 or 1778 and settled on the extreme circumference of Shelburne. His land touched the Deerfield River and a river stretch merged into the mother town of Deerfield. Near or on Deerfield's short west bound- ary was the old Ferry Road and at that point Gideon kept a boat which transported passengers, livestock, and goods of many sorts across the river. Each com- ing generation tended ferry until the old wooden covered bridge was built upstream in 1868.
Except for the east ell which was a large part of an earlier, smaller house, the age of the present house cannot be numbered much over one hundred years. The living descendants of Gideon Bardwell have not been certain of the exact year of erection, but from assessors' records, which in 1842 taxed Joel Bardwell and Son for one house valued at $200 and the fol- lowing year for one house valued at $1400, there is sufficient proof the house was built in 1842 or 1843.
During the construction the family lived in the east ell and when, after a year of work, the house was completed, this ell was joined to the main part. Small-paned window sashes and blinds were made by hand during the late fall and winter months. Many of the former have been replaced with single sheets of glass.
The old east ell and the south wing each contains a large fireplace and brick oven. There are two Frank- lin fire frames in the main house. The attractive woodwork, including the fluted mantelpieces, Chris- tian cross doors, grooved window casings and under- paneling, is still tightly joined and reflects the superior workmanship of the builder, Ira Barnard, Sr.
Joel Bardwell built his house large to make room for his son, Orsamus who, when married, bought on Rowe Lot Hill the old Fellows farm, which he sold when plans for the new house advanced, and returned to his ancestral home.
The answer to the oft-heard question, "How many rooms has this house?" is: fifteen rooms, three attics, two large arched woodsheds, and a workshop --- in- deed an expansible house.
The shop was originally fitted up for "Granny Hayden," who was too old to be living alone in her home, which was a short distance north of Orsamus Bardwell's. When the railroad was being built, it was a store where articles were sold to the laborers, many of whom lived in shacks in the south pasture. Later, Orsamus Bardwell, who delivered his farm products in Greenfield, dressed his turkeys, chickens, ducks, and lambs in this room with its large fireplace, and on the wide porch.
Approaching the double front door two large stone doorsteps, suggestive of the strength of the whole house, receive considerable attention. They measure 10 feet by 31/2 feet and were drawn by oxen from Charlemont.
The back yard has the distinction of still retaining its well curb and little brick ash house originally built for smoking hams. The picket fence that once framed the west lawn and a large north garden ( full of flow- ers, fruit trees and vegetables) to the highway no longer stands.
AT THE END OF THE ROAD
When the early roads were discontinued, a few resolute families, being fond of the acres they had cleared, bravely endured isolation greater than before and continued to live in their sturdy homes. In this last category, the old Parker Dole house (now Ray-
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mond Kingsbury's), the Abner and Peter Peck home (the first house on Donald Smead's farm), the John Taylor home near Mt. Ida (Guy Manners' house location), the home of Israel Childs and later Joseph Sweet (now the Roberts School), the first John Anderson house close to the present house of Stevens Dole, and a few others slightly less removed from the highway, existed in their original locations and they or their successors still do.
RAYMOND KINGSBURY'S HOUSE - The Kingsbury house beyond Rowe Lot Hill at the end of the road appears to be one of the oldest in town, having fea- tures of houses built the last quarter of the 1700's.
Because this farm on the old discontinued road to the Falls includes house lots formerly owned by Cole- man, Rowe, Belding, and perhaps others, it has been impossible to prove who built the house; however, there is much evidence pointing to Parker Dole.
Josiah Dole (born 1768), when five years old, came to Shelburne in an oxcart with his parents, Parker and Abigail Dole, and their other children. They settled somewhere on the present Kingsbury farm. Ella Dole Bardwell wrote, "They settled above the bank of the Deerfield River ; whether there was a house or they had to build, I do not know. This farm continued in the family till it was sold by his grand- son, Daniel R. Dole in 1865." She gave the date of arrival of Parker Dole and his family, "sometime between the fall of 1773 and the spring of 1774."
A town record of 1775 mentioned a "road from Coleman's house through Mr. Pool's land to Doles' " and another record in December 1777, in describing roads, mentioned Job Coleman's house, also Parker Dole's house. These records, with Ella Dole Bard- well's statement and another item that "Levi Dole (born 1791) lived in the old house where his father Parker Dole settled on coming to Shelburne and died in 1848," confirm the evidence - Parker Dole built the house.
In 1796, the valuation of Parker Dole's real estate was $2,060, which was high. Only eight other Shel- burne residents owned real estate valued over $2000.
Job Coleman, when he moved to Heath in 1797. sold his property to Josiah Dole (son of Parker). This, together with all the Dole property, went to Daniel Dole, and from him Williams T. Peck (son of Peter), living nearby, bought the place solely for the lumber from which he furnished the railroad with ties. He sold to a Sunderland man, S. S. Smead, who soon went west, and the next owners were Rox- anna and Lyman Gould (parents of David), who came to this place in 1878. Following them, Oscar Kingsbury, son of Roxanna by a former marriage, took possession, and his son, Raymond, now owns the place.
Originally in the main house, four sizeable rooms with fireplaces circled 'round the large center chimney which has since been taken down. One room has been broken up, a part of which, presumably, enlarged the
hall, making possible a straight stairway, also elimi- nating one fireplace.
In 1860 MIr. Smead went to York State, brought back his bride, and remodeled the house. He shut up the fireplaces and put in stoves. All rooms are low ceiled. Ceiling rafters in all the rooms downstairs, horizontal butternut paneling (part way) in two rooms, wrought-iron HL hinges and latches, so highly prized today, unquestionably date this house as an old one.
On the farm there are at least three cellar remains to testify that a number of families lived close by. Left from that little settlement of the late 1700's is the lone Kingsbury house with its big oak timbers; however, at the north, overlooking the valley, is a large brick house which was a neighbor of that group.
THE DONALD SMEAD HOUSE ON DRAGON BROOK - Recently William Bassett's. South of the Center, on Dragon Brook on a side road joining the Bard- well's Ferry Road, is the Donald Smead farm, re- cently purchased from William Bassett and earlier owned by Henry Allen.
The present house was built by Peter Peck ( son of Abner and Ardelia Tobey Peck) in 1855 or there- about. The first house was the home of Abner Peck, the first by that name to arrive in Shelburne. It stood slightly south, nearer the barns, when the highway from Foxtown to the Falls crossed Dragon Brook on this farm east of the dwelling and ran south toward the river, curving west to Parker Dole's house (now Kingsbury's ).
Peter Peck was a great-uncle to the late Charles Peck and great-great-uncle to Lyndon Peck who lives in Peckville.
A newspaper item of July 1881 tells us, "Peter Peck spent his long life on the old homestead near Dragon Brook about a mile south of the Center, and it was here in the years gone by that he had his grist- mill where grain was brought from all the country 'round. The old mill was carried away long ago, but its site in a secluded ravine, not far from the home, is a charming spot." One water wheel of the grist- mill is still on the farm. A few years ago, the late Herman King of Shelburne Falls took pictures of the mill water pool, tinting some in natural colors.
Polly Peck was a tailoress who made pants and overcoats for the men of Shelburne.
Williams T. Peck, son of Polly and Peter, sold the farm in 1881 or 1883 to William H. Bardwell, who never lived on it. Soon Henry and Minnie Sweet Allen came to this sheltered farm, and they lived in "Peter Peck's new house" until 1916 when the Wil- liam Bassett family became residents.
THE ROBERTS SCHOOL - Formerly the Sweet home. Situated prominently on the hill south of the Mohawk Trail and east of the "Skinner Cemetery" in East Shelburne, stands a large house believed to be the original and remembered as the "Sweet place."
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Owned for many years by Alice and Percy Roberts, until recently transferred to Mae and Walter Rich- ardson, it is known as "The Roberts School" -- a private school for young children.
It has been said that Joseph Sweet, Jr., built this house; but a few years ago, when the Robertses re- moved wallpaper from the southeast upstairs chamber, the name Jane Childs came to light, and in the study of a house history we must never disregard the "hand- writing on the wall." It is usually a clue to an early resident and, when accompanied by a date, very helpful. Across the hall the names J. Sweet and Maria Sweet, with the date 1823, were uncovered.
Searching through Deerfield family histories, we find Deacon Israel Childs, son of Samuel, came to Shelburne in 1811 and had a daughter, Jane. Our Congregational Church Manual of 1873 tells us Israel Childs was appointed deacon in 1817 and died in 1821. Town records prove his residency and death in Shelburne.
It seems likely Deacon Childs' house was framed within a year or two after his arrival, making erection date not far from 1813.
When Joseph Sweet came from Deerfield's "Wis- dom" to Shelburne, his son, Joseph (born 1802), was a boy of perhaps twelve years, which places his arrival a little later than that of Israel Childs. A Sweet descendant told the Robertses that Joseph Sweet, Sr., first worked for an early owner and later purchased the place. In this event, if built, the present house was large enough for both families.
Looking backward over the years, when a picket fence surrounded the large house and a well house stood on the lawn, the Sweet home with its bell- shaped gable blind (now conspicuous from the Mo- hawk Trail) was a pretentious dwelling. Passing the house a road ran to the southeast to the old Taintor home and joined the old "North and South Road."
In later years, "Grandpa Sweet" (Joseph, Jr.), lived in one part of the house with his son, John, whose family consisted of his wife, Lucinda Barnard, and three children - Minnie, Joseph and Helen. Grandpa Sweet's son, Joshua, and his wife, Maria Conant, and their children ( Alice, May, Josephine and Charles) lived in the other part. "Grandpa Sweet" died in 1881.
Joshua Sweet modernized the house in keeping with his time. The fireplaces in the two front rooms upstairs and down were closed, the paneling removed, and the small-paned windows replaced with a larger size. The present front door is not the original, but the side lights remain as formerly.
In 1894 Joshua Sweet moved to Gardner and his son, Charles, bought the family homestead.
In 1901, when Charles and Anna Sweet and their two daughters moved to Gardner, the Sweet place was sold to Fred Alvord. Sometime after the death of his wife and the marriages of his son and daughter, he sold his place on the hill to the Robertses.
A few years after the death of her husband Mrs.
Roberts sold her school home to Mae and Walter Richardson, who continue to keep the "Roberts School."
THE ROBERT JARVIS HOUSE - The former home of the Robert Jarvis family, until a new house was built close by, near the Mohawk Trail and the Green- field town line, is thought to be very old and was perhaps built by Jonathan Severance, who was taxed in 1796 for real estate valued at $1,438.
The next known resident was William Hanson who bought the place in 1819. He lived in Shelburne for many years. He had a gristmill --- 1828 being one of the years he operated it.
Dwight Boyden's residence followed in the 1850's and continued into the 1870's.
Later the Jonas Moore and Noah Roberts families in succession lived in the old house.
During ownership by the Robertses, one wing was clipped off and moved nearer the Mohawk Trail, where, after reconstruction, it became a new house, which is the home of Raymond Morrell and his sis- ter, Esther.
In 1830 there was a road south from Peckville past the old Allen homestead, and it doubtless extended to the Hanson house, before turning west.
COLRAIN ROAD FROM MOHAWK TRAIL
ALVIN CHURCHILL bought of Lewis Goodnow the house near the East Cemetery and just off the Mohawk Trail at the foot of the hill leading to Colrain. It is the second house on the site, and the ell is a part of the first house, which burned.
According to Sheldon's History, Samuel Smead came to Shelburne about 1783 and moved away in 1821. His son, Oliver, also lived in this old house. Afterwards, a Forbush family, whose home was on "Pattern" Hill in what is now Barnard's pasture, not far from the Great Ledge, moved to the Smead farm.
Edmund Skinner from Charlemont came to live in the old house when he married Lucy Forbush in 1840. After the fire he rebuilt the main house about 1850.
Alfred, son of Lucy and Edmund Skinner, brought his wife, Jennie Bardwell, to the family home. Soon after his death, his widow with her daughter, Wini- fred, and son, Edmund, moved to California.
In 1902 the Alvord family, consisting of Albert and Mary Bardwell Alvord and their three sons (Rollin, Leon and Harry), moved from Greenfield to the Skinner house. In 1925, two of the sons, still residing in the home after the death of their parents, sold the farm to Lewis Goodnow.
DR. HOWARD KEMP'S HOUSE ON FELLOWS' HILL - Colrain Road. The pioneer who built the original segment of Dr. Kemp's home is not known. The names of a few early settlers on the hill have been extracted from the dead past; however, with two vanished homesites very near, it is now impossible to correctly name them.
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Peter Mason owned one of these houses and con- siderable land, which he deeded in 1808 to Rodolphus Newton of Shelburne. In 1816 Rodolphus Newton conveyed eighty-seven acres ( the description of which corresponds to the present Kemp farm) to Charles D. Childs of Shelburne. This property was trans- ferred to Obed Newton of Greenfield in 1824, when he probably came to Shelburne, as that was the year he joined the Congregational Church.
In 1835 Obed Newton deeded this property to his neighbor, Ira Arms, and that same year it was trans- ferred to Stephen Fellows, who became a resident owner.
When Stephen and Abigail Allen Fellows moved to this hill farm, there was a small house (now the north wing) which contained one bedroom, a living room, a pantry, and a place for wood. That year Mr. Fellows built the main part of the present house to give sleeping space to his five children. In 1878 Mr. Fellows installed the first bathtub and flush toilet in rural Shelburne. Later, following the marriage of his son, Marcellus, the rooms were divided to accom- modate two families. Later yet, the living room took on chestnut wainscotting and the parlor a chestnut mantel carved by his son, John, who also added a porch. In reconstruction by the present owner, these features were cast off.
Aside from a large fan-blind in the south gable, all resemblance to the Fellows house has disappeared, leaving a modern house reflecting early-American beauty and charm with its reproduction of a fine old door and side lights.
Three generations of Fellowses - Stephen, John and Allen -- farmed on the hill which is still called "Fellows Hill." It was the birthplace of three gen- erations - Marvin (last child born to Stephen and Abigail Fellows), and Mary and Allen (children of Roxanna and John Fellows), also Donald (son of Etta and Allen Fellows). Donald's brother, John. spent a few days in the hospital before arriving at the farm.
Following the death of Allen Fellows, his widow and two sons left the farm, which was sold to Leon and Harry Alvord, who soon sold to Dr. Kemp.
THE HARMON PLACE - IAN FAY'S HOUSE The home of the Ian Fay family on the Colrain Road retrospectively portrays at least five generations of the Allen family.
The east wing is believed to be a part of the original house. Were it not for tradition, which has told us John Hanson was an early resident about 130 years ago, it would be safe to say the Allens were the original and only residents. The wing, undoubtedly. was the home of Sylvanus Allen in 1815 when he deeded forty-one acres of the north side of his home- stead - the farm on which he was then living -- to his son, Ebenezer, who married in 1814. Did Ebenezer and his wife, Anna McGee, live in the home of his father? We can only speculate that they did and that
the Hansons came to the Allen home after Lieut. Ebenezer died in 1825.
In 1796 Sylvanus Allen owned real estate valued at $2978, the second highest in Shelburne.
We know Ebenezer Allen's son, Charles Stebbins (born 1815), married Nancy Severance and settled here. Their children - Sylvanus, Martha, Charles Stebbins, Jr., and Anna - were born in the old house.
A newspaper item of 1871 stated, "Charles Allen is building a new house," which is the main house of today, next to the small house of yesterday.
Sylvanus Allen, the elder son, remained on the home place. Sometime after his death, his wife ( Mary Moore) and son, Waldo, moved to Greenfield.
The house was unoccupied by spells and the farm rented until Horace Harmon from Ashfield purchased it in 1927. Here the Harmons lived and died.
Their grandson, Ian Fay, who lived with them for a number of years, continues farming on the "Allen place" on the old county road.
THE HOME OF CAPTAIN JOSEPH AND MARGUE- RITE LONG - The house at Hillside, so called for over sixty years, was built in 1825 by Stephen Long, Jr., and owned always by his descendants, the present owner being Captain Joseph W. Long, U. S. Navy Retired.
The first Stephen Long to come to Shelburne was an early settler in the north part of the town on a Deerfield proprietor's lot near the Archibald Lawson farm. He remained there only a few years and bought land in the northeast section on the Colrain boundary. joining the Shelburne Wilsons' acres. Dr. Long's diary tells us, "Stephen Long sold his place in Octo- ber 1778," which leads one to believe he then moved over the hill east, where he built his home just north of the present house on slightly higher ground.
The home of his son, Stephen, Jr., is the present story-and-a-half house facing the south. Originally there was no east wing.
Stephen Milton Long, son of Stephen, Jr., became the second generation to live in the new home and the third to live on the farm. He, according to the custom of prosperous farmers, neatly encased the large lawn with a picket fence and edged the field across the driveway with trim rail fencing. The sons of Stephen Milton and Miranda Fellows Long did not remain on the farm, but in 1906 the John Carpenter family came to live in Mrs. ( Mary Long) Carpenter's child- hood home, built by her grandfather. A son, Raymond, who continued operating the farm after his father's death, recently sold the old homestead to his cousin Captain Joseph W. Long, great-great-grandson of Stephen Long, Sr.
The main house, outwardly, is typical of early Shelburne homes. Joe and Betty Long in restoring the old home are preserving original features and adding modern conveniences.
The house, though seemingly small, is surprisingly
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roomy. Thrifty in construction, no space was wasted. Two tiny windows in each gable of the house light small narrow bedrooms, one each side of the larger center chamber.
The front door opens into a small hall, with its winding stairs. The staircase balcony, instead of being next to the outer wall, can be seen from downstairs.
When stoves came into use, the three fireplaces on the first floor and two on the second were closed and the large chimney was taken down. Now a modern fire- place flanked by narrow windows appears in the sitting room, made larger by the removal of a bedroom parti- tion. Also, a new, very large, picture window invites admiration of all nature at the south.
In the Long home can be seen their family group of yesteryear. During the middle of the 19th century, a picketed lawn enclosing the family, some sitting, some standing, some in arms, became photogenic, and one of those framed pictures is a highly prized treas- ure hanging on the wall in a number of Shelburne homes, and in this book on page 14.
PECKVILLE
FRED DOLE'S HOUSE - The house known for fully half a century as the Dole home - first of Charles S. and now of Fred B. - and the house preceding, take us back to the first Pecks of Peckville and earlier owners of that section.
It is not the purpose of this chapter to record the formal history of a farm with buildings thereon, but since Fred Dole has obligingly added to the descrip- tion of his house the registered history, which gives the immediate background of the Peck ownership and, being closely linked to two other Peckville farms, it is copied below.
"Dennis Stebbings, Joseph Stebbings, and Baxter Stebbings of Deerfield deeded to Christopher Arms, Seth Sheldon, Joseph Clesson, and Charlotte Catlin, all of Deerfield, about 200 acres in 1817." That in- cluded the present Dole homestead. The house at that time was close to the road a short distance north of the present house. Possibly their father (Col. Joseph Stebbings) built the first house, because as early as 1770 and again in 1790 town records tell us Col. Joseph Stebbings lived near his father (Joseph, Sr.) who, we know, lived in that vicinity, probably in the old tavern (present Earl Smead house). A descrip- tion of a road "laid by Aaron Skinner's and begin- ning west of Joseph Stebbings' and south through Col. Stebbings' land" somewhat proves Col. Stebbings lived in the original house on the present Dole lawn at the north. ( It is known Aaron Skinner lived under the hill near the old Allen place. )
"Joseph Clesson, having assumed full title, sold to Solomon Bardwell 220 acres in 1824." (Joseph Cles- son came to Shelburne about 1818 - Sheldon's His- tory - and lived, presumably, in the first house for seven years.)
"Solomon Bardwell of Shelburne deeded to Abner Peck (Clothier) of Leverett the 220-acre tract which included part of the present property of Charles P. Peck and Lyndon A. Peck" -- Abner Peck's grand- son and great-grandson, respectively.
"The present Dole house was built a few years after Abner Peck took possession. Abner Peck, Jr., son of Abner Peck, who bought the property, was born in 1820 and was very young when his family moved from Leverett to Shelburne. He stated the present house was probably built around 1830-1835, that is, within a few years after the family came to town."
"Abner Peck, Sr., had three sons, Abner, Austin, and Albert. Abner, Jr., took part of the farm, being some of the land now owned by Abner C. Peck and built a home on that place. Another son later took some of the land now owned by Lyndon A. Peck and built a home there. Abner Peck, Jr., deeded this place (present Dole Farm) including the house, to Austin Lafayette Peck, his brother, in 1875."
"Austin Lafayette Peck, known as Fayette, the son remaining on the home place, sold the remaining land and the homestead to Charles S. Dole in 1897. This is the property now held by Fred B. and Hazel N. Dole, and inherited under the will of Charles S. Dole upon his decease in 1939."
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